wind instrument

wind instrument

wind instrument, in music, any instrument whose tone is produced by a vibrating column of air. In the pipe organ the column of air is set into vibration by mechanical means. Other wind instruments are blown by the player and are divided into two groups, the woodwinds and the brass winds, or brasses. The woodwinds include the flute family, played without a reed, the clarinet family, having single-reed mouthpieces, and the oboe family, having double-reed mouthpieces (see reed instrument). The brass winds include the bugle, cornet, ophicleide, trombone, trumpet, and tuba, all having cup-shaped mouthpieces, and the French horn, having a funnel-shaped mouthpiece. In the brasses the lips of the player perform the function of reeds. The wind passage of a wind instrument is called the bore and may be conical or cylindrical; its flared edge is called the bell. Woodwind and brass instruments are now best distinguished according to their mouthpieces, since metal flutes and saxophones remain woodwinds regardless of the material used to make them.

A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube), in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of the effective length of the vibrating column of air.

Methods for obtaining different notes

Changing the length of the vibrating air column, by changing the effective length of the tube through opening or closing holes in the side of the tube. This can be done by covering the holes with fingers or pressing a key which then closes the hole. This method is used in nearly all woodwind instruments.

Changing the length of the vibrating air column, by changing the length of the tube, through engaging valves (see rotary valve, piston valve) which route the air through additional tubing, thereby increasing overall tube length, thereby lowering the fundamental pitch. This method is used on nearly all brass instruments.

Changing the length of the vibrating air column, by lengthening and/or shortening the tube using a sliding mechanism. This method is used on the trombone and the slide whistle.

Making the column of air vibrate at different harmonics, without changing the length of the column of air (see harmonic series).

All wind instruments use a combination of the first or second or third and the fourth method to extend their register.

Types of wind instruments

Although brass instruments were originally made of brass and woodwind instruments have traditionally been made of wood, the material used to make the body of the instrument is not always a reliable guide to its family type. A more accurate way to determine whether an instrument is brass or woodwind is to examine how the player produces sound. In brass instruments, the player's lips vibrate, causing the air within the instrument to vibrate. In woodwind instruments the player either:

For example, the saxophone is typically made of brass, but is classified as a woodwind instrument due to the method of vibrating the air column (by using a reed).

On the other hand, the wooden cornett (not to be confused with the cornet, which is made of brass) and the serpent are both made of wood (or plastic tubing, in the case of modern serpents), but belong to the family of brass instruments because the vibrating is done by the player's lips.

Parts

The bell of a wind instrument is the round, flared opening opposite the mouthpiece. It is found on horns, trumpets and many other kinds of instruments. On brass instruments, the coustical coupling from the bore to the outside air occurs at the bell for all notes, and the shape of the bell optimizes this coupling. On woodwinds, most notes vent at the uppermost open tone holes; only the lowest notes of each register vent fully or partly at the bell, and the bell's function in this case is to improve the consistency in tone between these notes and the others.